Macy’s grant funds Saltillo Elementary musical

SALTILLO – Christmas came a bit early for Saltillo Elementary School students this year.
Macy’s gave $1,000 grants to 100 schools across the country to present “Yes, Virginia The Musical,” and Saltillo Elementary is one of the recipients. The show is slated for this weekend, with the fourth-graders performing on Friday night and the fifth-graders performing on Saturday afternoon.
“Our principal noticed there was a grant to put on the musical, and within a day or two we heard we had it,” said Dianne Ludt, a staff volunteer who’s teaching drama at Saltillo Elementary and directing the play. “We have 150 kids in each. We had to double cast.”
That’s a surprise for Ludt and the school, since this is the first year for a drama program at the school. But the kids are having fun, she said, telling the true story of 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon, who wrote a letter to the New York Sun newspaper in 1897, asking if Santa Claus was real. Macy’s is providing the musical’s materials to the schools royalty-free, too, in celebration of the fifth anniversary of Macy’s holiday “Believe” campaign.
“The music is great. The kids love it,” Ludt said.
Saltillo Elementary Assistant Principal Michael Coggins said he’s seen the kids flourish in the drama program. Support from the community and volunteers like Ludt help the kids succeed, he said.
“(Ludt) ties it to academics, so it’s really working,” he said. “We have kids that are so talented.”
Two fifth-graders in “Yes Virginia” are 10-year-olds Hardy Smith, who stars as Virginia, and Charlie Koehn, who stars as Scraggly Santa, a guy who’s lost his job and is down on his luck.
“My favorite part is when I’m writing the letter,” Hardy said about playing Virginia.
For Charlie, he’s learning how to dance, and he’s having fun.
“My favorite part is where I’m singing and dancing with my pigeons,” he said. “We have people in costumes and they dance around me.”
The kids are getting into the magic of “Yes, Virginia.”
“If your friends don’t believe in Santa,” Charlie said, “this would influence them to believe.”
sheena.barnett@journalinc.com